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September 22, 2015

The New Girlfriend (2014)

Directed by: François OzonCountry: France

Movie Review: Forceful actor Romain Duris, despite a bit funny dressed and acting as a woman, breathes some charm and certain glamour in the brand new drama “The New Girlfriend” from the admired French helmer François Ozon, who steadily carried out the screen adaptation of the Ruth Rendell’s short story of the same name. Anais Demoustier and Isild Le Besco play respectively Claire and Laura, two inseparable childhood friends who fortuitously meet their future husbands in the same night. For Claire, it was love at first sight, and she’s in a happy marriage with Gilles (Raphael Personnaz), who may be described as an open-minded, hard-worker, reliable man. Laura was also happy with David, but she dies shortly after giving birth to a beautiful baby daughter. Claire had promised she would take care of Laura's husband and child if something happened to her. However, after Laura's funeral, she persists in avoiding David, clearly struggling to cope with the painful loss. One day, without notice, she decides to stop by David’s house, accidentally discovering an unsettling secret, which only Laura was aware of: David was feeding his baby, dressed as a woman. After the initial shock, Claire starts gradually understanding and accepting David, who makes clear that he really feels the urge to dress and be a woman, regardless all the intimidation of having to assume it publicly. Claire, terribly confused at first, suddenly takes an underlying pleasure in shopping with David, now called Virginia, and even agrees to join him for a weekend at Laura’s country house. On that weekend, during a transgender show at a local nightclub, David is profoundly touched by the performance of the artist. From that moment on, feelings grow a bit messy and blurry at a certain point, a fact that didn’t stop me from following the course of events with a zealous interest. Mr. Ozon, who proves to be a legitimate filmmaker, grabs some moods from Almodóvar, yet giving priority to a seductive moderation over exuberance, and also from Xavier Dolan, with the particularity of being slightly more humorous and less staged. This is a reliable choice for an awesome matinee.